Had planned something fancier, but ran out of time to get a few more bits of hardware…hopefully for next year’s show.
So whipped up a quick insert for my little demo box of cut stones and rough from the same parcels. Definitely spiffed it up. Need to move a few of the diagrams away from the boxes, but overall love it.
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Yeah it looks great! (I like that Apatite too…pretty color.) 
That is rather smart indeed!
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Lovely display! Can’t wait to see how you incorporate the gems in into something forged.
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Maybe a Marvel tie in with the new up coming movie? Infinity stones! Can anyone make a Glowforge Gauntlet?
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Very nice display … Also … Love the gems!
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Excellent! I take it you are a rock hound as well? Very nice job on the display.
A bit 
but leaning more to the sparkly rocks.
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Do you do your own faceting? The types of facets and choice of materials would suggest it. I carved stone and did cabs but never got into faceting.
Depening where you are located, get in touch with a local faceting club. That would be the easiest to get started. There is a new set of books out by Tom Herbst, that are likely to turn into the new “bible” on getting started. They are 27 bucks on Amazon, killer price for the quality and content (some folks resell them on Amazon for 2x the price, and usually show up first vs the lower prime price). While the old ones are still excellent, they don’t cover any of the new info. Do try to get a copy of Glenn Vargas’ faceting for amateurs, it has excellent background info, even being over 30 years old (can remember the latest edition, misplaced mine argh).
I would pick sunstone/labradorite/bytownite for a first stone, very easy to work and polish. Most folks start with quartz, but it can be tricky to polish, at least when starting out.
Let me know if there is more info you would like.
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Actually the reason I did not get into faceting was that I wanted something that I would not need a high power magnifier to tell great from sloppy. I have cabbed a lot of labradorite an sun and moonstones and probably still have some around. There was a batch of small precious (real) topaz in the mix that would be my first go to if I went there. When I moved a year ago much was packed to I am not sure where. Much went to sell but I might get back what has not sold etc so it would be serendipity what ever I find again. I also had a big piece of high lead glass in the two inch by three foot rod that it comes in when it goes from glass works to factory and that too would make nice faceting material. But like I said I did not go down that rabbit hole, but not for a lack of opportunity to do so.
Lead glass makes some nice stones. Old tv tubes work nicely as well.
You won’t get away without magnification (unless you got super eyes…)
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I was commissioned to build a spiral glass staircase with everything glass in a house where that actually fit the decor. I am not sure where I discovered that as the glass comes out and is annealed it gets all ripple like water in a fresh breeze and looks fantastic but it does bend or pickup a texture from laying on the floor so when we told them what it was for as the upright stations on this staircase they went through tons of it to find enough that were perfect and I got to keep the sample and the owner of the shop got the profits.
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